Leyden upsets Metea
Valley in Pepsi opener
Eagles get surge of confidence with 4-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
LA GRANGE – Metea Valley and Leyden went into to Saturday’s PepsiCo Showdown opener looking to jump-start their respective offenses, neither of which had been as productive as they would have liked.
While Metea Valley’s attack remained stuck in neutral, Leyden opened up the throttle and stunned the Mustangs 4-0 in a match many figured would be close and low-scoring.
The unseeded Eagles (4-1-1) thus advance to Tuesday’s second round against No. 7 seed Lane or Plainfield Central, while No. 10 seed Metea (5-2-1) is relegated to consolation play.
“I’m surprised all the way around,” Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. “We struggle a little bit sometimes scoring goals, and to come out and put three in the first half against a very good team, I’m very happy about that.’
The Eagles were the aggressor from the outset and wasted no time in drawing first blood. David Senk scored the first of his two goals 3:23 into the match when he headed home a perfect cross from Erik Rodriguez.
“That was probably the best cross I’ve seen him give all year, one of the best we’ve done as a team,” Senk said. “That’s something we’ve been working on in practice, so it was really nice to see that kind of a product in a game, especially against a great Metea team.”
The Mustangs were riding a six-game unbeaten streak but appeared stunned by the early deficit.
“They probably came in thinking they were really good,” Senk said. “We knew they were going to be good. We just wanted to come out, put one in quick, which we ended up getting, and we knew we could build off that and play as a team.”
Senk and Rodriguez would hook up again for Leyden’s fourth goal, which came with 34:46 left in the second half and snuffed any hopes the Mustangs had of a comeback.
It was the first two-goal game of Senk’s career, while Rodriguez notched a career-high three assists. Rodriguez also assisted on a goal by Christian Sosnowski, which made it 3-0 with 7:44 remaining in the first half.
“I just tried to do my best, one- and two-touch the whole time,” Rodriguez said. “I’m pretty sure they got surprised because they didn’t expect from short people to have the speed and the strength. We fought for every single ball until the finish.”
The Eagles needed to because the Mustangs were not without their chances. Leyden outshot Metea 19-11, but the game was a wide-open affair in the first half.
The Eagles made it 2-0 at the 25:19 mark when Hector Herrera sent a long ball into the box to Angel Lopez, who settled it and then beat Metea goalie Joey Coryell with a short shot.
But Mustangs forward Michael Adams had three great scoring chances after that as teammates sprung him on a trio of breakaways. Adams launched three shots from within 10 yards but all missed high, including an eight-yard bullet that just cleared the crossbar after Leyden goalie Alfredo Recendez rushed out to cut down the angle.
Recendez also made a diving stop on a 15-yard shot by Brandon Howard, and an offsides call nullified the one ball the Mustangs did put in the back of the net.
“It could have been much different if some of their chances had gone in,” Valintis said. “It could have been a real shootout, so we were fortunate that they missed them in the first half and we capitalized on ours. I think the first goal kind of stung them, and the third goal before half kind of demoralized them a little bit.”
“They go 1-0 and then we’re in [twice],” Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said. “Then they go up 2-0 and we’re still in. It could very well ended up being 3-2 them or 3-3 at halftime, but we couldn’t put it away and it ended up costing us and made it difficult for us.”
The Mustangs were playing without three starters, including two senior standouts in midfielder Dakota Rowsey and forward Jake Celinski, who were taking the ACT. A revamped lineup wasn’t ready for Leyden’s aggressiveness.
“We’ve been trying to preach being more aggressive because we’ve had some struggles scoring goals in the box,” Valintis said. “I think it’s a collective team effort. We don’t have that one go-to guy, although Sosnowski is certainly a leader offensively. Everybody played good team soccer and look good out there.”
Senk, Sosnowski and Rodriguez all have three goals thus far, and that spread-out production gives the Eagles some confidence.
“Once we got the goal, we got the confidence to go forward and they just fell in,” Sosnowski said. “Once we were up 3-0, we felt confident to come out in the second half and do really well.
“We scored that fourth goal, which was crucial, because when we were up 3-0 we knew that if they scored quick they could maybe come back. But we scored that fourth goal and we controlled the game from then on.
“We came out here wanting to win the tournament, so we were confident. I told my guys, 'Just shoot and trust each other, pass the ball around and whenever you have a shot, just take it.' ”
That’s a facet of the game the Mustangs, who were shut out for the second straight game [they tied Oswego 0-0 on Thursday], are still working on.
“We’re not scoring goals,” Robinson said. “Our guys have been doing really well in the back, and today we lost some individual battles.
“We changed some things around and it ended up biting us a little bit, but the biggest issue is it doesn’t matter if we lose 1-0, 4-0 or it’s a 0-0 tie. We’re not scoring goals, so guys have to step up and start scoring.
“Eventually you’ve got to finish. We talked about the kids staying positive. Sometimes they’ll miss and put their head down.
“I try to tell them about [Chris] Freeman last year. Freeman missed 50 times a game but he never got down. You have to have confidence as a forward to put the ball in the net and it’s that simple.”
Confidence is something the Eagles gained with this win.
“I really hope so,” Senk said. “We’ve kept a lot of clean sheets, so the defensive aspect is really solid for us right now. So we’re just really focusing on getting the ball in the back of the net and starting to win games.”
Recendez and Marcos Ruiz, who played the final nine minutes, each made one save to record Leyden’s fourth shutout. The Eagles have given up just two goals.
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK Alfredo Recendez
D Christian Rubio
D Elvis Castaneda
D Hector Herrera
D Cesar Franco
D Damian Kosakowski
M Sal Salgado
M David Senk
M Christian Sosnowski
M Angel Lopez
F Erik Rodriguez
Metea Valley
GK Joey Coryell
D Jonathan Ramos
D Brandon Howard
D John Lynch
D Ryan Donovan
D Esteban Castillo
M Jake Toepfer
M Brian Diebold
M Max Graf
M Jacob Kellogg
F Michael Adams
Man of the Match: Erik Rodriguez, Leyden.
Valley in Pepsi opener
Eagles get surge of confidence with 4-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
LA GRANGE – Metea Valley and Leyden went into to Saturday’s PepsiCo Showdown opener looking to jump-start their respective offenses, neither of which had been as productive as they would have liked.
While Metea Valley’s attack remained stuck in neutral, Leyden opened up the throttle and stunned the Mustangs 4-0 in a match many figured would be close and low-scoring.
The unseeded Eagles (4-1-1) thus advance to Tuesday’s second round against No. 7 seed Lane or Plainfield Central, while No. 10 seed Metea (5-2-1) is relegated to consolation play.
“I’m surprised all the way around,” Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. “We struggle a little bit sometimes scoring goals, and to come out and put three in the first half against a very good team, I’m very happy about that.’
The Eagles were the aggressor from the outset and wasted no time in drawing first blood. David Senk scored the first of his two goals 3:23 into the match when he headed home a perfect cross from Erik Rodriguez.
“That was probably the best cross I’ve seen him give all year, one of the best we’ve done as a team,” Senk said. “That’s something we’ve been working on in practice, so it was really nice to see that kind of a product in a game, especially against a great Metea team.”
The Mustangs were riding a six-game unbeaten streak but appeared stunned by the early deficit.
“They probably came in thinking they were really good,” Senk said. “We knew they were going to be good. We just wanted to come out, put one in quick, which we ended up getting, and we knew we could build off that and play as a team.”
Senk and Rodriguez would hook up again for Leyden’s fourth goal, which came with 34:46 left in the second half and snuffed any hopes the Mustangs had of a comeback.
It was the first two-goal game of Senk’s career, while Rodriguez notched a career-high three assists. Rodriguez also assisted on a goal by Christian Sosnowski, which made it 3-0 with 7:44 remaining in the first half.
“I just tried to do my best, one- and two-touch the whole time,” Rodriguez said. “I’m pretty sure they got surprised because they didn’t expect from short people to have the speed and the strength. We fought for every single ball until the finish.”
The Eagles needed to because the Mustangs were not without their chances. Leyden outshot Metea 19-11, but the game was a wide-open affair in the first half.
The Eagles made it 2-0 at the 25:19 mark when Hector Herrera sent a long ball into the box to Angel Lopez, who settled it and then beat Metea goalie Joey Coryell with a short shot.
But Mustangs forward Michael Adams had three great scoring chances after that as teammates sprung him on a trio of breakaways. Adams launched three shots from within 10 yards but all missed high, including an eight-yard bullet that just cleared the crossbar after Leyden goalie Alfredo Recendez rushed out to cut down the angle.
Recendez also made a diving stop on a 15-yard shot by Brandon Howard, and an offsides call nullified the one ball the Mustangs did put in the back of the net.
“It could have been much different if some of their chances had gone in,” Valintis said. “It could have been a real shootout, so we were fortunate that they missed them in the first half and we capitalized on ours. I think the first goal kind of stung them, and the third goal before half kind of demoralized them a little bit.”
“They go 1-0 and then we’re in [twice],” Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said. “Then they go up 2-0 and we’re still in. It could very well ended up being 3-2 them or 3-3 at halftime, but we couldn’t put it away and it ended up costing us and made it difficult for us.”
The Mustangs were playing without three starters, including two senior standouts in midfielder Dakota Rowsey and forward Jake Celinski, who were taking the ACT. A revamped lineup wasn’t ready for Leyden’s aggressiveness.
“We’ve been trying to preach being more aggressive because we’ve had some struggles scoring goals in the box,” Valintis said. “I think it’s a collective team effort. We don’t have that one go-to guy, although Sosnowski is certainly a leader offensively. Everybody played good team soccer and look good out there.”
Senk, Sosnowski and Rodriguez all have three goals thus far, and that spread-out production gives the Eagles some confidence.
“Once we got the goal, we got the confidence to go forward and they just fell in,” Sosnowski said. “Once we were up 3-0, we felt confident to come out in the second half and do really well.
“We scored that fourth goal, which was crucial, because when we were up 3-0 we knew that if they scored quick they could maybe come back. But we scored that fourth goal and we controlled the game from then on.
“We came out here wanting to win the tournament, so we were confident. I told my guys, 'Just shoot and trust each other, pass the ball around and whenever you have a shot, just take it.' ”
That’s a facet of the game the Mustangs, who were shut out for the second straight game [they tied Oswego 0-0 on Thursday], are still working on.
“We’re not scoring goals,” Robinson said. “Our guys have been doing really well in the back, and today we lost some individual battles.
“We changed some things around and it ended up biting us a little bit, but the biggest issue is it doesn’t matter if we lose 1-0, 4-0 or it’s a 0-0 tie. We’re not scoring goals, so guys have to step up and start scoring.
“Eventually you’ve got to finish. We talked about the kids staying positive. Sometimes they’ll miss and put their head down.
“I try to tell them about [Chris] Freeman last year. Freeman missed 50 times a game but he never got down. You have to have confidence as a forward to put the ball in the net and it’s that simple.”
Confidence is something the Eagles gained with this win.
“I really hope so,” Senk said. “We’ve kept a lot of clean sheets, so the defensive aspect is really solid for us right now. So we’re just really focusing on getting the ball in the back of the net and starting to win games.”
Recendez and Marcos Ruiz, who played the final nine minutes, each made one save to record Leyden’s fourth shutout. The Eagles have given up just two goals.
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK Alfredo Recendez
D Christian Rubio
D Elvis Castaneda
D Hector Herrera
D Cesar Franco
D Damian Kosakowski
M Sal Salgado
M David Senk
M Christian Sosnowski
M Angel Lopez
F Erik Rodriguez
Metea Valley
GK Joey Coryell
D Jonathan Ramos
D Brandon Howard
D John Lynch
D Ryan Donovan
D Esteban Castillo
M Jake Toepfer
M Brian Diebold
M Max Graf
M Jacob Kellogg
F Michael Adams
Man of the Match: Erik Rodriguez, Leyden.